"I think it was a good statement," Rice told reporters in Washington after Arab League foreign ministers issued a statement in Cairo on Sunday.

The resolution underlined the Arab League's "rejection of the use of armed violence to achieve political goals outside the framework of constitutional legitimacy, and the need for a withdrawal of all weapons from the streets."

Rice said: "It made very clear that the militias should not be in the streets, that to use force of arms against ones own people is something that is clearly illegitimate.

"And there is a legitimate government of Lebanon we are working with others to support and sustain it," said Rice after meeting members of a State Department advisory board on promoting democracy worldwide.

She then called for all those "interfering" with a process to elect a consensus candidate for president of Lebanon to "step aside and let it take place."

In meeting with the democracy advisory panel, Rice urged patience in their hopes for democracy in the Middle East.

"Lebanon," Rice said after a panel member asked whether democracy were advancing or retreating in the Middle East, "yeah, it's very fragile."

But she questioned whether the state of democracy in Lebanon was weaker now than when the Syrian forces occupied the country.

She said she was late to the meeting because she was busy on the telephone dealing with the crisis in Lebanon, including speaking to Premier Fouad Saniora.(AFP)